A longtime friend, Ed Z had moved up to a tiny town about an hr. out of Spokane a couple years ago, figured enough time had passed for him to have a grip on the local scene. Good Call.
He has been helping out at
Klink's Williams Lake Resort in Beautiful Eastern Washington State which had just closed for the season.
Klink's is on the right.
We were able to use a couple of their killer little cabins as our home base which worked out perfect having the many amenities at our fingertips out in the middle of nowhere. With a half dozen killer lakes within a half hour we set out shortly after unpacking. The brown fishing was tough by Ed's standards as this was the average size fish of which there were many.
But Ed had grown to enjoy a higher standard so we kept switching it up.
Mike R. aka: DirtySanchez got the first of the better fish.
After lunch the 2nd day we did a quick demo job & slapped a couple outboards on a wrecker Ed had just picked up & quickly dubbed it "The Penetrater" since "Weapon Of Bass Destruction" is already taken.
Trolled a variety of baits (mostly large) for a slow pick on a similar grade of fish until it got dark & I broke out an obnoxious rattle bait G sent from Japan & hauled ass with it.
Stuck a few very nice browns & myself with that Bad Ass bait before starvation & hypothermia began setting in.
THANKS AGAIN G!
After some serious regrouping & repacking of the car we were off early in the AM for a 2.5 hr trek into Hells Canyon to the land of steelhead & manly men. Ed had been doing some fishing with a guy named Capt. Pat
who worked as a guide on the Snake River & is quite possibly the most entertaining individual I've ever shared time on the water with. He was not only nice enough to set aside a couple days to take us fishing but invited us 4 clowns into his home to stay, including an unreal home cooked dinner & breakfast. Although nothing topped the entertainment/stories/photos, until his parrot got going.
View from Capt. Pat's front deck.
With his house located up the hill from the lodge he works out of the closest neighbors are the Big Horn Sheep that frequent the area & were kind enough to visit the morning before our 2nd day of fishing.
Apparently the Snake has had an off the charts record year for steelhead returns so they've upped the limit to 5 hatchery fish so they aren't out competing the wild fish which must be released. We were pulling plugs for a good bite on mostly hatchery fish with a couple wild ones mixed in.
I'll never forget Pat's first words to me "So your from California, welcome to the real world". The longer we were there & the more we saw the more those words meant. Can't thank Ed enough for all the work/time he put into planning this trip down to every detail doing everything in his power to assure us success & a good time.
BTW: Seemed to be straight Revo's on the casting rods up there.
One in three is DEE-DEE-DEE!!
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